reserve clause

American  

noun

Sports.

1. the clause in the contract of a professional player in some sports that binds the player to a team for a season beyond the expiration of the contract in the event a new contract has not been made meanwhile or the player has not been sent to another team.

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Etymology

Origin of reserve clause

First recorded in 1940–45

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

reserve clause

The 1975 case involved Dodgers pitcher Andy Messersmith and prompted arbitrator Peter Seitz to strike down the reserve clause, the restrictive contract language that had kept players under perpetual team control for nearly 100 years.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2024

Pasquel may not have ended segregation or overturned the reserve clause, but he certainly hastened the demise of both.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 7, 2022

In 1975, an arbitrator struck down the reserve clause in the cases of pitchers Andy Messersmith and Dave McNally.

From New York Times ● Aug. 18, 2021

Kuhn, a case that in isolation didn’t lead to massive change, but which laid the groundwork for future challenges that struck down Major League Baseball’s reserve clause.

From Seattle Times ● Jun. 22, 2021

Then comes in the reserve clause again: “But he shall have one Tribe for My servant David’s sake, and for Jerusalem’s sake, the city which I have chosen out of all the Tribes of Israel.”

From The Lost Ten Tribes, and 1882 by Joseph Wild